Heating !

£92 electric per month and £20 gas (heating and hot water. I’m in credit for £191.48 gas and £116.23 electric.

I have fleece bedding and wear warm clothes indoors. I didn’t switch on heating until end of November. I only have it on for 2-3 hours to remove the chill.

I bed flat (basement).

I grew up without central heating and we needed a letter from the Pope becore we could add an extra bar to the Calor Gas heater. I guess I’m used to it.

We don’t have a thermostat. Landlord refuses to put one. Heating costs an awful lot. £350 every two weeks. Lots of drafts. OH still wearing shorts and using a fan. Hate winter.

I m on my own in a 3 bed semi, after having guests at Christmas for almost 3 weeks who left lights on, had loads of showers using hot water and used the gas fire when it wasn’t really needed, I had a huge shock with a bill for energy use of £308, I m with Octopus. I ve now turned the heating off during the day and it’s only coming on late afternoon, I have one light on in the sitting room and am using candles. This is a ridiculously unsustainable way to be living in 21st century!

Have now got an Oodie and heated blanket for TV watching, only have heating on during the day when I m childminding my little grandchildren

This is one of the reasons I moved into sheltered housing to a one bed flat from an old 3 bed semi. I was scared about heating bills getting too high. Here I pay a monthly service charge and gas, electric, water , communal cleaning, alarm system, windows, gardens and services of the manager 5days a week plus a handyman comes on a Tuesday and he does small jobs for you, are all included. As I'm on top floor ....we have a lift....I am toasty warm, heating on for as long as I want. I can comfortably potter about with out layers or even a jumper or cardi over my t shirt.. I know the service charge will rise each year but I am no worse off finacially than I was rattling around in a large very cold North facing house. Best thing I ever did. I'm warm, safe and cosy. Leaving the house was a weight off my shoulders.

I live in a 4 bed house with cavity wall insulation. The radiators have thermostatic valves set very low in rooms I’m not using. CH is on for three hours in the morning, and a couple of hours in the late afternoon after which I use the very efficient gas fire in the living room or an oil filled radiator which is cheaper than the central heating. Only if I have visitors do I have the CH heating on all day but it’s starting to get colder here so if I need it, I’ll use it. At the moment I pay £137 a month to OVO and am working off a substantial credit balance built up in the summer months.

I was bought up in a house without central getting and ice on the bedroom window, it was a trial going to bed trying to get warm even with a hot water bottle and lots of blankets, the dash down stairs to stand by the fire getting dressed, the cold bathroom, it was horrible. I consider myself lucky to live in a house with central heating, when I'm in the heatings is on. We saved for our old age, my husband died at 60 though. Surprised to read about people on here who frequently talk about all their holidays and having their own business who are quite resigned to being permanently cold. Some will not waste money on heating, others genuinely cannot afford it. The heating allowance this winter would take you through the first three months of the year. Breathing in the cold air doesn't do you any good, won't shorten your life but cause health problems. My dear grandmother lived until nearly a hundred, with a fire just in one room, in a large Victorian terrace house, she used to cry some times with the cold but was very poor her family struggling them selves, not the good old days at all. I would rather do without a holiday and new clothes.
Shirls I could cry for you, you made everyone welcome and you're left with a big bill and struggling, make sure you visit them in future. Don't these people think?

We pay £180 a month, year round. I prefer having a constant direct debit to “pay as you go”. December’s actual dual fuel bill was £250, so that will be the level of spend we’re on at the moment. In winter we have our thermostat set for the heating to come on at 16 degrees at 9am, going up to 19 degrees at 5pm, then down to 10 degrees at 10pm, which in effect means it goes off for the night unless it’s a very cold one. It’s very rare that we increase the level of heating, we sometimes put it down a degree or two. If we’re out for more than a couple of hours we switch it off. We’ve a Victorian end terrace with solid walls and we heat every room to avoid the risk of condensation, though the upstairs radiators are smaller.

The cosiest house we lived in was a small mid terrace - we had the benefit of our neighbours’ heating and rarely had to put ours on.

Did you not get the £500 heating allowance shirls?

Germanshepherdsmum

But it’s surely your choice to live in a big old house Grantanow. If you can’t afford to make it more energy efficient, why should the taxpayer do so? You could move to a property which is cheaper to heat and sell your house to someone who can afford improvements.

There are reasons other than finance for not moving which are personal.

But I doubt there are enough modern houses to move to given the housing shortage. And it's always the middle classes who have to pay: to the rich it's small change and the poor will be paid for.

Grantanow

Germanshepherdsmum

But it’s surely your choice to live in a big old house Grantanow. If you can’t afford to make it more energy efficient, why should the taxpayer do so? You could move to a property which is cheaper to heat and sell your house to someone who can afford improvements.

There are reasons other than finance for not moving which are personal.

But I doubt there are enough modern houses to move to given the housing shortage. And it's always the middle classes who have to pay: to the rich it's small change and the poor will be paid for.

Exactly. As I said earlier in this thread, we live in a big old Victorian property, but for a number of reasons, moving simply isn't an option for us. So we just have to get on with things and add another layer of clothing!

MissInterpreted ^ we just have to get on with things and add another layer of clothing!^

Logic combined with normal behaviour!

Oh dear we pay £375 to Octopus. But it will be recouped during the summer. I feel the cold. Four bedrooms in a bungalow with a lot of outside walls( we have an interior courtyard)weird architect.

Heating is non-negotiable. I have it on 24/7. On a ‘not so cold day’ , I will probably turn it off in the night.

Norah

MissInterpreted ^ we just have to get on with things and add another layer of clothing!^

Logic combined with normal behaviour!

Indeed. It always amazes me when people complain about how much it costs to heat their homes, but they're wandering around in nothing more than vest tops or t-shirts. I have a neighbour who is like that.

MissInterpreted

Norah

MissInterpreted ^ we just have to get on with things and add another layer of clothing!^

Logic combined with normal behaviour!

Indeed. It always amazes me when people complain about how much it costs to heat their homes, but they're wandering around in nothing more than vest tops or t-shirts. I have a neighbour who is like that.

I love warm clothing. Tights, socks, lined jeans, roll neck, jumper, down gilet - ready for shoes, gloves, cosy coat and the walks

Exactly. As I said earlier in this thread, we live in a big old Victorian property, but for a number of reasons, moving simply isn't an option for us. So we just have to get on with things and add another layer of clothing!

that’s exactly how it is for me misinterpreted big three storey Victorian house but I m not sitting shivering I keep my one main room cosy with a gas fire and when out and about in other rooms I have oodies and the round your waist hot water bottles so most of the time I m as warm as anybody else and certainly don’t feel hard done by

Sheila4483

My heating goes on at 7am and goes off at 10.30pm every day. Thermostat is st at 22 as we both feel the cold. 3 bedroom house. We are £200 a month for electricity and gas with Ovo energy

Was that before this month’s increase? It’s very cheap for the temperature you keep!

Since this month’s increase came into force Octopus has suggested we decrease our direct debit from £180 to £170. I assume one of the factors is how much of a cushion you have left from the warmer months.

Stansgran

Oh dear we pay £375 to Octopus. But it will be recouped during the summer. I feel the cold. Four bedrooms in a bungalow with a lot of outside walls( we have an interior courtyard)weird architect.

but wonderful during hot summer months..

Thankyou Romola for your kind remark. Yes, I agree, unbelievable that the authorities placed babies in foster homes with none of the facilities we expect nowadays, mind you it was the early 60's!

We have taken our central heating out. We now have a logburner in one room to heat the whole house. We have insulated the floors and walls and installed a ventilation system with heat exchanger. We are looking at around £200 for the whole winter, from October through to end of April. It does help that my husband was building houses in a very cold country so understands about insulation in the house.
Our electric standing order is way above our outgoings so we'll be claiming back a substantial amount in the summer.